This was my first formal Italian class in my life (I'm a native speaker and took a placement test) and I was very nervous coming in. Thankfully, this ended up being one of my favorite classes I've taken at UCLA. Professor Lavagnino is an amazing instructor and is one of the most thoughtful and kind professors I've ever had. She is very clear about instructions and is always taking feedback from students and changing the course to adapt to everyone's needs. She was also extremely understanding about missing class or needing extensions, something very helpful because I was very sick for a good portion of the quarter.

The work was fairly straightforward - It consisted of exercises from our textbook, writing assignments, and one presentation at the end of the quarter. While the amount of assignments was more than other classes, they didn't require much time. There were also 2 take-home quizzes throughout the quarter, though she literally gave us the entire quiz beforehand to study. They were fairly easy regardless and never required significant amounts of studying. Otherwise, participation is also very important in the class. Professor Lavagnino is, however, very encouraging of participation and makes it very easy to talk during class. As long as you show up and do the homework, all the participation is very straightforward.

Overall I would highly recommend this class and Professor Lavagnino in general! I had a fantastic time and will genuinely miss this class